Out of the five seats on the Moffat County School Board up for election, four of them will be filled by newcomers.

The results from Tuesday’s elections saw Moffat County residents Sue Voloshin, Tony Peroulis, Darrell Camilletti and KC Hume voted in as first-time candidates to serve on the Board of Education.

Some races were closer than others.

Peroulis narrowly beat out closest contender James Loughran in the District 4 race, winning by less than 40 votes.

“I just want to thank the people for their support, and hopefully we can make the right decisions,” Peroulis said.

Fellow District 4 candidate Patrick Germond said despite his loss, he considered Peroulis to be a worthy choice by voters.

Hume and Voloshin each won by considerable margins in their respective races, with the latter candidate receiving 61 percent of the vote against competitor Michele Chalmers.

Voloshin said providing a strong education for her children was her motivation for running.

“Really getting down and making sure they’re learning what they’re supposed to is why I wanted to run,” Voloshin said. “I want this school district to be one our kids can be proud of.”

Hume was a challenger, beating out District 7 incumbent Lawrence Sober, as was Camilletti in the race against District 6’s incumbent, Christine Balderston.

“I really want to congratulate Christine on all she’s done, because she needs to be commended for the work she’s done in the past,” Camilletti said. “I think she’s done a fine job during her time on the board.”

With 11 total candidates, the amount of participation for this year’s election was noteworthy, Camilletti said.

“I think the important thing is that the races were contested this year, so there were people who were engaged,” he said. “The first thing you need to do to make a difference is to be involved.”

Joel Browning, of District 5, was the only incumbent to be reelected as well as the only unopposed candidate.

“I think it’ll be great to work with some new people,” Browning said. “It’s exciting because we can try a lot of new things and we’ve got people who really want to do something.”

Browning added his admiration for Sober and Balderston during their tenure on the board.

“I know they’re both really passionate about it,” he said.

School District Superintendent Joe Petrone said he looks forward to working with the new board members, each of whom has already gotten heavily involved with educational opportunities within and outside the organization.

“We’ve got a high level of commitment on our current board, and the people that are joining are just going to hit the ground running, because their commitment is at an equal level,” he said. “All I can say is welcome to a great governance team.”

Peroulis said attending several recent board meetings has given him a better idea of the process he’ll soon be joining.

“You’ve got to be ready to get in there and get after it,” he said.

Andy Bockelman can be reached at 970-875-1793 or abockelman@CraigDailyPress.com.